For many years, one of our ministers, Charles Weber, challenged people to “live out of the overflow.” He spoke of the Spirit-filled life. With similar emphasis, the late Marcus Morgan has stated that for Christians the challenge is to “realize the full influence of His power and presence in our living.” John the Baptist proclaimed,

I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. —Matthew 3.11, niv

Jesus himself, at the time of his baptism, “saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove” (Mark 1:10, niv). Several experiences of the baptism of the Holy Spirit are recorded in the New Testament (Acts 2:1–4; 9:17; 10:44–46; 19:1–7). Jesus sustained the promise just before his ascension, saying, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:8, niv).

The events in the New Testament account are sufficient to indicate believers can experience the baptism of the Spirit. We could say one’s life is saturated with the Holy Spirit or immersed in the Spirit. The word sanctification is often used to describe the experience of the Spirit-filled life. Whatever the term used, we believe the infilling of the Spirit in the life of the Christian makes a dynamic difference in the individual’s receptivity to the Spirit’s leadership and the individual’s effectiveness as a witness for Christ.

The believer’s experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit may be viewed from at least four perspectives:

Cleansing. The Holy Spirit cleanses the attitudes, mindset, habits, and spirit of the believer. In the Old Testament, we read of utensils that were set aside to be used exclusively in worship. Sanctification is the word used to refer to this cleansing (Ezekiel 42; Daniel 5). The Holy Spirit works in the believer to purify and set aside a person for God’s use. (See 1 Peter 1:13–16; 1 Thessalonians 4:3–8; Hebrews 2:11; 10:10.)

Consecration. Consecration (commitment) is the act of the believer. Persons who have accepted forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life offer themselves to be fully blessed and used by God. Paul wrote the Christians in Rome,

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. —Romans 12:1–2, niv

Consecration is presenting everything about our personality, including our physical bodies, to God for his use, in a decisive act of worship.

Calling. This is the part of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit-filled life on which God and the believer work together. The Spirit cleanses, the believer consecrates himself or herself, and together the Spirit of God and the believer work out the calling. The calling is the task(s) which the believer accepts in the life of the church in order to help evangelize and serve the world. There are many functions in this great task of sharing the gospel, “giving a cup of cold water,” and doing it unto “one of the least of these” in Jesus’ name (Matthew 10:42; 25:40). As the believer presents his or her total personality for service to both God and humanity, the Holy Spirit considers both the natural abilities of the believer and the need for workers in the church and then gifts that believer.

A gift is a divine enabling of the believer for ministry beyond any natural talents he or she may possess. Often the Holy Spirit challenges the believer to a further study of the Bible and considerable personal preparation and training for the task(s) the Spirit has assigned. Paul gives a list of gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12. Additional lists are found in Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 4. The lists provided by Paul are not intended to be exclusive or to rule out other ways that the Spirit may peculiarly equip persons for God’s work in the church and through his church to the world.

Convincing Evidence. The convincing evidence of the Spirit-filled life is holiness. Holy or righteous living includes a faithful study of the teachings of Jesus and a continual effort to live out the implications of those teachings day by day. The believer is not so spiritually conceited as to think that he or she is a perfect human being. The Holy Spirit is the source of power for holy living (John 16:5–16; Philippians 2:12–13). Paul sets the pattern of the Spirit-filled life in bold relief as he contrasts it with the sinful life. You will want to read about the “fruit of the Spirit” and the “acts of the sinful nature” as Paul compares them in Galatians 5:16–26.

It should be noted, also, that the Pentecostal outpouring in Acts 2 was more mission-centered than person-centered. The purpose was empowerment for the divine mission.

Church of God hymnist Charles W. Naylor expressed both the scriptural teaching and the experience of the Spirit-filled life:

Spirit holy in me dwelling,
Ever work as Thou shalt choose;
All my ransomed powers and talents
For thy purpose thou shalt use.

O how sweet is thy abiding!
O how tender is the love
Thou dost shed abroad within me
From the Father-heart above!

Thou hast cleansed me for thy temple,
Garnished with Thy graces rare;
All my soul Thou art enriching
By Thy fullness dwelling there.

In me now reveal Thy glory,
Let Thy might be ever shown;
Keep me from the world’s defilement,
Sacred for Thyself alone.

Spirit holy, Spirit holy,
All my being now possess;
Lead me, rule me, work within me,
Through my life Thy will express.²

The experience of the Spirit-filled life begins when the believer, the individual Christian, opens his or her life to the full work of God’s Spirit in a conscious act of the will. From that point on, there is a growth in the Spirit, called by some “progressive sanctification,” which produces an increasing awareness of oneness with God and effectiveness in Christian service.